Secret of the Skulls, Part 1

Secret of the Skulls, Part 1
Produced for:	Fantomen 23/2003
# of pgs:	31
Writer:	Claes Reimerthi
Artist:	Hans Lindahl
Original colorist:	Reprostugan
Producer:	Egmont Kärnan

"Secret of the Skulls, Part 1" is a 2003 Team Fantomen story, written by Claes Reimerthi, with art by Hans Lindahl.

Plot synopsis

On a dark and stormy night, The Phantom finds an old scroll in the Major Treasure Room with one of Nostradamus' prophesies.

At The Ethnographical Museum in Morristown, museum director Minerva Brooks is in a meeting with an Egyptian researcher, Kamil Gizmet, who is searching for a crystal skull that he believes is in the museum. Miranda checks a database but can not find any such item there. Later she discovers that the computerized inventory is not complete and ultimately finds a crystal skull in a hidden room in the basement.

Kamil Gizmet meets with Dogai Singh and tells him that one of the crystal skulls have been found. The Singh Brotherhood has been searching for the three crystal skulls for centuries and having possession of all three is of the greatest importance for The brotherhood.

Minerva is at home one night when she has a nightmare that ends with the crystal skull being stolen from the musum. In the middle of the night she drives to the museum and discover that the night watchman has been knocked down and the crystal skull stolen. When The Phantom reads about the stolen cristal skull he takes a look at another crystal skull he keeps in the Major Treasure Room, then goes to Morristown to have a meeting with Minerva. The museum borrows the second crystal skull and tell the press that the thieves have returned the stolen crystal skull.

The next night thieves enter the museum again and steal the second crystal skull but this time The Phantom follows them back to The Singh Headquarters at an abandoned movie lot. Since Minerva has been kidnapped, The Phantom is forced to find the third crystal skull for the brotherhood.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• The 21st Phantom
• Minerva Brooks
• Dogai Singh
• Otomba, night watchman
• Kamil Gizmet, University of Cairo
• The 1st Phantom (mentioned)
• Devil
• Guran
• Hero
• Khermet (mentioned)

One-time characters

• Sir Archibald Merrivale (mentioned)

Real-life characters

• Nostradamus (mentioned)
• Francis II (mentioned)

Locations

• Bengali
  • Deep Woods
    • The Skull Cave
      • The Major Treasure Room
  • Morristown
    • The Ethnographical Museum
    • Industrial building/Film Studio/Singh Pirate hideout
  • Rackstorm Castle

Tribes

• Bandar

Organizations

• The Monkey Mail
• The Singh Brotherhood

Objects

• Crystal Skull
• Nostradamus's copper container

Behind the scenes

This is the first story with Minerva Brooks.

Related stories

Followed by

• "Secret of the Skulls, Part 2" by Claes Reimerthi and Bob McLeod
• "Secret of the Skulls, Part 3" by Claes Reimerthi and Paul Ryan

Refers to

• "The Mask of Death" by Ulf Granberg and Jaime Vallvé
• "The Crystal Skull" by Scott Goodall and José Casanovas
• "The Last Phantom, Part 2: The Choice" by Claes Reimerthi and Felmang

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Australia

• "Secret of the Skulls, Part 1", The Phantom #1369 (2003)

Finland

• "Kristallikallojen arvoitus, osa 1: Nostradamuksen ennustus", Mustanaamio 23/2003

Italy

• "Il teschio di cristallo, prima parte", Phantom - L'Uomo Mascherato #6 (2009)

Norway

• "Krystallskallenes gåte, del 1: Nostradamus' spådom", Fantomet 23/2003

Sweden

• "Kristallskallarnas gåta, Del 1: Nostradamus spådom", Fantomen 23/2003